Album Reviews : Bleakwood – Blood & Faith 7"

From the crackling speakers of my old record player, a screeching black apparition charges to my ears, whole in its powerful wickedness. And although said apparition is lacking in content, lasting only eight minutes or so, the music from Sydney one-man band Bleakwood’s EP, Blood & Faith, offers a succinct black metal assault containing enough variation to the leaders of the genre to immediately consider it an interesting and worthy addition to one’s musical collection.

Side A, containing the title track of the EP, opens with a punishing pace containing aggressive vocals, complemented by thrash styled drumming and wailing tremolo guitars. There are certain hints of Bathory worship in the opening passages, however as a whole, the music played here by multi-instrumentalist Dan Nahum is dissonantly creative and markedly interesting.

The flip onto the other side of the EP shows a distinct admiration towards the almighty Nazxul, with the chaotic nature of ‘Disruption Hymn‘ apparent from the get go. Nahum’s vocals take on a darker, more demonic edge at times, and the guitars sway between frenzied noise and progressive nuance. The inclusion towards the end of the track of more prominent keyboard layers also lends aid to the future evolution of the bands sound.

The shortness of the EP is its major downfall, sufficiently whetting the appetite of potential fans, then forcing them to look elsewhere for fulfilment on the day. However as long as a follow up effort isn’t too long in coming, then the band should prosper in the black metal underground of the country.

Mitch Booth is the owner, designer and grand overlord of Metal Obsession. In the few seconds of spare time he has outside of this site, he also hosts a metal radio show over on PBS 106.7fm in Melbourne (Australia) and organises shows under the name Untitled Touring. You should follow him on Twitter.